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Endogenous Hormones

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Breast Cancer Epidemiology

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Abstract

Given the consistent associations between various reproductive and hormonally related factors and breast cancer risk, sex hormones have long been implicated as key players in breast cancer etiology. However, early studies assessing the association between levels of circulating hormones and breast cancer risk primarily used case–control study designs, which may incorporate bias if hormone levels at the time of breast cancer diagnosis do not reflect levels prior to cancer development. More interpretable evidence regarding the types of hormones related to breast cancer risk and the magnitudes of these associations is increasingly available from large prospective studies with high quality biological samples. As described herein, there is now consistent evidence regarding the influence that endogenous estrogens and androgens have on breast cancer risk, particularly postmenopausal disease. Only a handful of studies have assessed the association between breast cancer risk and circulating levels of progesterone and prolactin. In contrast, a relatively extensive literature has been devoted to the association between the IGF axis and breast cancer risk, but with inconsistent findings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Epidemiology, Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    Amanda I. Phipps & Christopher I. Li

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  1. Amanda I. Phipps
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  2. Christopher I. Li
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Correspondence to Amanda I. Phipps .

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  1. Fairview Ave. N., 1100, Seattle, 98109, U.S.A.

    Christopher Li

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Phipps, A.I., Li, C.I. (2010). Endogenous Hormones. In: Li, C. (eds) Breast Cancer Epidemiology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0685-4_4

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